1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to liquid ejecting apparatuses including liquid ejecting heads that eject liquid from nozzle openings, and particularly relates to ink jet recording apparatuses that eject ink as a liquid.
2. Related Art
An ink jet recording apparatus including an ink jet recording head that ejects ink droplets from nozzle openings that communicate with flow channels by using pressure generation units to pressurize the flow channels can be given as an example of a liquid ejecting apparatus including a liquid ejecting head that ejects a liquid.
Ink cartridges serving as liquid holding units that hold ink are provided in the ink jet recording head in a removable state, and ink supplied from the ink cartridges is ejected by the ink jet recording head as the ink droplets.
When such an ink jet recording head is left for long periods of time without performing printing operations, the ink near the nozzle openings will dry and cause ejection malfunctions such as the ink droplets traveling in curved paths, clogged nozzle openings, and so on. In addition, when printing operations are not carried out, the flow of ink in the flow channels stops, and a problem will occur where components contained in the ink will sink in the flow channels.
Accordingly, methods such as performing suction operations for sucking the ink in the flow channels from the nozzle openings, performing microvibration driving that vibrates menisci of the ink at the nozzle openings without causing the ink to be ejected as ink droplets, sealing the nozzle openings so as not to make contact with outside air, and so on have been employed (see JP-A-2003-39701).
However, when replacing the liquid holding units such as ink cartridges, a carriage that holds the ink jet recording head is moved from a standby position (a home position) to a replacement position where the replacement can be carried out, and thus the ink jet recording head is released from a cap that covers a liquid ejecting surface. When the liquid ejecting surface of the ink jet recording head is released from the cap in this manner, the ink near the nozzle openings will dry and thicken, causing a problem in that ejection malfunctions such as the ejected ink droplets traveling in curved paths, clogging in the nozzle openings, and so on will occur.
Furthermore, every time when the ink cartridges are replaced, and cleaning operations for sucking ink that has dried and thickened at the nozzle openings from those nozzle openings and discarding the ink are performed, there is a problem in that an increased amount of ink is wastefully consumed.
It should be noted that these problems are not limited to ink jet recording apparatuses including ink jet recording heads, and are also present in other liquid ejecting apparatuses including liquid ejecting heads that eject liquids aside from ink.